HOW TO GAIN BOLDNESS TO EVANGELIZE

Lesson 18

HOW TO GAIN BOLDNESS TO EVANGELIZE

Few years ago I was in a bus travelling somewhere, prior to when I boarded the bus I had prayed, fasted and decided to preach in the bus but by the time I got to my destination, I ended up not preaching. It continued again and again till I finally learnt how to overcome fear and gained boldness in evangelization. These steps are practical and would help anyone desiring the boldness to preach.

1.      BE RIGHTLY CONVINCED OF GOD: you can’t give what you don’t have, if you want the world to be saved, you must first be saved and if you want to introduce Christ to the people, you must first know Christ personally. Until the Spirit of God has convinced you, He won’t use you to convince another; preach salvation after you’ve been saved and repentance from the sins you’ve repented of.

2.      FOLLOW OTHERS: ‘Heb 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises’. To be able to gain confidence and boldness to preach, you should first follow those who have gained confidence and boldness to preach. Elisha followed Elijah, Joshua followed Moses and Peter and the rest of the disciples followed Christ. Tag alone someone who preaches one-on-one, follow those who evangelizes on bus and become the disciple of the one who have gone ahead of you in that area of evangelism and by that way you’ll gain the boldness and confidence to preach.

3.      PREACH YOUR MENTOR’S MESSAGE: If you know what to preach, it would increase your boldness. Start by preaching exactly the sermon you mentor in the Lord preached to you. Preach sermons that touch you, and the gospel teachings that you so much understand, preach simple sermons and avoid deep theological thesis. When Christ sent His disciples for the first time to preach on the streets, He told them exactly what to say ‘Matt. 10:7 And preach as you go, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand’. The disciples where to just say as they go from house to house ‘the Kingdom of heaven is at hand’. Isn’t that simple? It is.

4.      AVOID CERTAIN PEOPLE AND LOCATION: Though the message of Christ if for everyone but don’t go to everyone, go to a specific people. ‘These twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel’ Matt. 10:5-6. Jesus specifically told His disciples not to go to specific places, rather to precise places. Avoid certain people and places and if you come in contact with someone that pose question beyond you to you, tell the person to come to your church and meet your pastor. You mustn’t know everything to be able to preach. Preach what you know to the class of people you know and invite those you aren’t prepared to preach to to church.

5.      UNDERSTAND YOUR ROLE: We are called to partner with God in reaching out to men and the part of our deal in this partnership is to preach and God’s deal is to convince and convict the world of sin. ‘Joh 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: {reprove: or, convince}’. Pray before embarking in evangelism, because your role is only to preach and God’s role is to use what you preached to convince and reprove the person you are preaching to. Imagine going out alone without praying, your gospel seeds would have no result because it God who gives result.

6.      STUDY THE CLASS OF PEOPLE YOU ARE TO PREACH TO: when Jesus preached to shepherd, He used illustration familiar with them, and when He preached to farmers, He used illustrations familiar with them etc. because He knew His audience. Study your audience and use illustrations that’ll make meaning to them. You can’t be preaching to farmers and using a chemical reaction as an illustration and vice versa. Preach to those you know and understands their mentality and characters.

7.      YOU NEED THE ANOINTING OF THE HOLYSPIRIT: nothing gives us boldness more than the Holyghost. Peter prior to the time he received the anointing of the Holyghost, he was timid and afraid to preach, but immediately after He received the anointing of the Holyghost during the Pentecost day, he become so bold about his faith and preached before a large crowd.

8.      THINK ABOUT THE REWARD: ‘Daniel 12:3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.’

We’ll gain stars like armies gains ranks and sport men trophies as we turn men to righteousness in the kingdom of heaven and everything we sacrifice towards the preaching of God’s word, we’ll gain in multiplied folds here on earth. ‘Peter began to say to him, "Lo, we have left everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life’ Mark 10:28-30

9.      BE READY TO WELCOME TRIBULATION: many quit evangelizing when they met with tribulation, the truth is, none who preached in the time past escaped it and none who would preach now that’ll be spared from it. Tribulation from men of the same faith and from the world but don’t be discouraged, if you aren’t troubled, you won’t grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

CONCLUSION

Mark 19:15 And he said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.

It’s a sin not to have any one you’ve led to God and see to the discipleship of such person because it’s a command that we preach to our whole world and disciple our converts till they be grown in the Lord.

CLASS ACTIVITIES

A.      Give personal experience on how you’ve been hindered from preaching due to lack of boldness

B.      Where have you discovered God wants you to concentrate in your evangelism?

C.      What improvement would you want in your evangelism life?

D.      Give any personal testimony of God’s blessings in your life due to your evangelical involvements?